The European Commission and member states have been urged to conduct a resource inventory and implement specific countermeasures.
The report on technological sovereignty and digital infrastructure, approved by a significant majority, highlighted the European Union’s reliance on non-European digital technologies. The authors pointed out that a handful of tech companies hold concentrated power and control over critical infrastructure, including operating systems, artificial intelligence (AI), social media, search engines, and payment services. The document noted that this situation poses serious risks to the EU.
Call for a European Cloud and AI Development Act
The European Commission and member states were urged to implement reforms under a proposed Cloud and AI Development Act to foster homegrown European solutions. Simultaneously, lawmakers approved an amendment demanding the lifting of US entry bans on members of civil society organizations, such as HateAid, which were introduced by the Trump administration.
Resistance Only from Far-Left and Far-Right
The report was adopted with a broad cross-party majority consisting of the People’s Party, Social Democrats, Liberals, and Greens: 471 votes in favor, 68 against, and 71 abstentions. Opposition came primarily from the Left group and the right-wing populist Patriots for Europe alliance.
Prioritizing European Companies in Digital Infrastructure
These ambitious plans rely on a strategic reorientation of public procurement and the development of European infrastructure. Member states were advised to favor European providers when awarding public contracts and to enable the exclusion of non-European companies from specific strategic tasks. Similar mechanisms already exist in China and the US, but have been absent in the EU until now.
Budgetary Support for Open-Source Programs
Ultimately, the decision is intended to lay the political foundation for European public infrastructure based on the principle: public money, public code. This means that software developed with tax funds—especially for government administrations—should subsequently be made available to everyone as open-source code.
This approach is designed to reduce reliance on individual tech firms. A European Sovereign Technology Fund, with a capital of approximately ten billion euros, could serve as the foundation. These funds would finance infrastructure measures acting as a European base for further developments by individual companies within the union.
Protecting Data from Access by US Authorities
The report acknowledged a deep dependency, particularly in the cloud segment, where much of the data is stored and processed outside EU territory. Consequently, there was a call for a clear definition of a “sovereign cloud.” The European Commission plans to present a corresponding regulation on cloud and AI development on March 25.
A primary goal is to improve the protection of sensitive data from access by non-European states. This measure is directed against the US Cloud Act, which requires US companies to grant American agencies access to data they store or process, even if that information is located outside the United States.
Political Pressure from the Trump Administration
The resolution reflects a trend that has intensified due to the unpredictability of the Trump administration in the US. The heavy dependence of the European and German economies on American tech giants is viewed by the Trump administration as a tool for potential political leverage and threats.
According to data from the industry association Bitkom presented last November, 9 out of 10 companies importing digital goods or services consider themselves dependent on foreign technologies, with more than half being “heavily dependent.” Only 4 percent of those surveyed believed they could survive in the long term without these digital imports.
The Gap Between Political Will and Practical Action
However, developments in recent years show that a significant gap remains between the recognition of the problem, political demands for change, and concrete actions in administration and the economy. This gap is particularly evident in choices regarding software and cloud services.
Individual attempts to implement open-source software in government (such as the City of Munich’s decade-long effort) failed in 2017, partly due to the dominance of American products in the rest of the market. A more extensive and potentially promising transition is currently underway in the state of Schleswig-Holstein, which began in 2017. Nevertheless, it remains to be seen whether this European Parliament resolution will result in more than just an expression of political desire for change in the short term.
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